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Here’s the second issue of “Yalla Masrah” newsletter, coming out six months after the first issue
published at the start of this year. The first experience was successful and we received many posi-
tive comments, suggestions and criticisms after it. We know with all our hearts that these criticisms
Editorial
were only out of our dear readers’ concern for us, so that the newsletter would come out in its new
format better, more beautiful and of a higher standard that the first issue, and more useful, so that it
can deliver the message that it was created for and reach out with the voice of Yes Theatre to the
biggest group of readers in our beloved homeland. We hope that you will provide us with your sug-
gestions and materials that you would like to include in the next issue, including stories, thoughts,
various articles in all subjects, drawings, general information and others.

“Yalla Masrah” newsletter is from you and for you; it allows you to publish your creativity and con-
tributions to a large audience of people. The newsletter is distributed electronically to more than a
thousand e-mail addresses, and in printed form to a large number of organizations and centers in
all areas of Hebron city, so that the reader can become more familiar with the theatre’s activities and
the participants in its various programs, and be introduced to these programs and activities and the
opportunities for different segments to participate in them.

We welcome all your contributions, and we hope for continued communication between the theatre
and the citizen in order to raise the level of theatre and drama art in the city specifically and in the
homeland and the world generally.

Yalla Masrah
Staff

Editor
Raed Shyoukhi

Preparation by
Ihab Zahda, Muhammed Titi and Sevtap Oezkutlu

Coordinator
Mohammad Issa

Photography
Fredo Bahd / Hammam Amro

Design and Printing

PIXEL Design (Shadi Abu Ajamieh)
02-2211012 / 0599-31525

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 WFD and Hebron

Since 1968, WFD has strong ties with Palestine and is, since then until today, supporting a women’s cooperative
and kindergarten between Kufer Na’me and Bil’in.
In 2004, WFD decided to expand its work to other parts of the West Bank and to implement projects on bigger
scale, but for shorter periods. In the same year, WFD started the project “Street Educator’s Program” in the Old
City in Hebron, which focused on cultural work with youth between 14 and 18 years.
In 2006, the youth house “House of Non-Violence” was opened and until 2009, it offered a “Safe Space” for youth
between 18 and 25. In this center, youth could not only participate in arts-based activities and art therapy ses-
sions, but also organize activities autonomously for other youth.
We are proud, that since summer 2009, we have started cooperating with YES-Theatre, one out of only eleven
Palestinian theaters in the West Bank.
From the very beginning of our work in Hebron in 2004, we knew about the high quality and professionalism of
YES Theatre’s work. In our former projects, we especially benefited from the theatre’s experience in conducting
theatre workshops with children and youth.
In our new “YES4Youth”-project, we hope to increase the access of youth to theater through training semi-pro-
fessional multipliers as theater animators and trainers.
Until mid 2012, we hope to train around 45 youth, who will then apply their newly gained knowledge in their work
with children and in community institutions. The most outstanding trainees will be trained as future actors, and
will, in that way, contribute to community and cultural life in Hebron. A library that is specialized in drama and
theater will be opened to public soon.
A personal word about Hebron:
In no other West Bank city have I encountered people more interested in new ideas and approaches. Hebronites
are mostly helpful, friendly, supportive and curious to meet people from outside.
Hebron has its special charm and I like the importance that is given to family life and hospitality.
I can say that after four years of working here, Hebron has really become a home to me.
I hope, that WFD will continue working here after the end of the current project phase in July 2012.

Uli Schieszl
WFD-Project Consultant

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J e r u s a l e m

When I tasted injustice... I knew the meaning of justice. When I was enveloped by darkness... I knew the meaning of light. When I
suffered parting... I knew the pleasure of union. And when Jerusalem was taken away from me, I knew the meaning of being robbed
of justice, sun and union... My inspiration, the kiss of love on my lips, my creator, my killer, how beautiful life is between your hands,
how beautiful death is on your hands... I don’t love you, I don’t yearn for you, and my heart does not beat on the doors of your hands...
I, my precious, the crown of my head, every heartbeat of mine and every breath from my chest... I melt with adoration at the air that
comes from you and goes to you, I worship at the altar of your eyes... And I wither in love and passion for every letter of your name,
O lady of cities and countries. I melt with love, passion and yearning to be a grave witness in one of your corners perfumed with
the smell of kingdoms that have committed suicide on the trees and the walls. Your word I have spread, to you I have sung and to
you my tongue has tilled when I sang. To you is the letter, the drawing, the color and the name. J... e... r... u... s... a... l... e... m. Domes
guard it, its eyes roam slowly to the walls... Robins, homes and sparrows inhabit it... So, come, Armageddon, if Jerusalem is not
retuned, and may the world be damned...
Raed Shyoukhi
Artistic team member of Yes Theatre

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Know more about Hebron

Dear readers, here are the names of some areas and streets in Hebron city: Ein Sarah is the main street of the city, Bab El Zaouia
(the city centre). Ras El Jora (entrance to the city), El Jozat, Harat El Sheikh, Harat Abu Sneinah, Harat Jaber, Harat El Jaabari
(adjacent to the occupied Abraham’s Sanctuary), Khallet Abu Majnooneh, Habayel El Riyah, El Salam street, Nimra, El Hawouz
El Awwal, El Hawouz El Thani, Wadi El Hiryeh, Harat El Qazazeen, El Shallala, El Mahawer, Jabal Johar, El Quarantina, Qubb El
Janeb, El Shohada street, Qayzoun, El Shoaba, Farsh El Hawa, El Jilda, Qarn El Thor, Wadi El Toffah El Qadeem, Wadi El Toffah
El Jadeed, Beir El Hummous, Dahiyat El Rama, Khallet Hadour, Khallet Batrakh, El Madares street, El Adl street, Al Haras (which
has a police station), El Fahs (the industrial area), Dahiyat El Zaytoun, Dahiyat Eskan El Baladiyyah, Souk El Laban, Eesah, San-
jar, Wadi El Joz, Nunqur, Jabal El Sharif, Jabal El Sundas, Bir El Mahjar, Wadi Abu Kteilah, Jabal El Juneidi, Tall El Romeidah (an
archeological site with a settlement), and the Jameah neighborhood (Hebron University).
Names of some markets in the city: Souq El Skafiyyah, Souq El Laban, Souq El Khodar El Markazi (Central Vegetable Market), Souq
Khan Shaheen, Souq El Qazazeen, Souq Khozoq El Far, Souq El Sahla (at Abraham’s Sanctuary), Souq El Zahed, Souq El Shallala
El Qadeem, Souq El Dahab, Souq El Shallala El Jadeed, Souq El Shohadaa.
Universities, colleges and institutions: Hebron University, Palestine Polytechnic University, Aroub Polytechnic College (Aroub), and
Al-Quds Open University.
Hospitals: Princess Alia Hospital (government hospital), Al Ahli Hospital (of the Society of the Patient’s Friends), Al Mizan special-
ized hospital, Mohammed Ali Mohtaseb Hospital, San Juan eye hospital, Shahira gynecological hospital and Zaatari gynecological
hospital (Halhoul), and the Red Crescent Hospital, in addition to many health clinics, about 37 in the province.
Most important societies: Red Crescent Society, Islamic Benevolent Society, Muslim Young Men’s Society, Al Ihsan Society, He-
bron Ladies’ Society, the Deaf and Dumb Society and the Blind Society.
The old city: the old city lies adjacent to Abraham’s Sanctuary, and is comprised of alleys, old houses and shops containing many
markets. On the 12th August 1996, a committee for the renovation of Hebron was formed by a presidential decision from the late
president Yasser Arafat. The committee renovated the old residential buildings and shops and did a second renovation of the old
city’s infrastructure.

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 Wisdom of the Day
The duck was speaking to the bull and said: “I wish I could reach
the top of this rock.”

“Why not?” The bull answered. “I can put some excrement for
you to help you climb.” And so it was. On the first day, the bull
poured his excrement next to the rock, so the duck made it a
third of the way up. On the second day, the bull put his excre-
ment in the same place, so the duck made it two-thirds of the
way up the rock. On the third day, the pile of excrement reached
the top of the rock… The duck hastily made its way up, and as
soon as it put its foot on top of the rock, a hunter saw it and shot
it.

Moral of the story

Bullshit can take you up… but it won’t keep you there for long.

Here are the most important activities that Yes Theatre conducted in the first half of this year:
Our News

• At the start of 2010, Yes Theatre started preparing for the new theatre production: “Play 4 Kids,” the result of which
was the play: “The Same Problem,” with 44 performances to the public audience and students from forty schools
among those of the Ministry of Education and UNRWA. The play presents the problem of garbage and the suf-
fering faced by society in dealing with this problem, as well as other social problems that it leads to. The play is
written and directed by Ihab Zahda and acted by Raed Shyoukhi, Muhammad Titi and Osama Jabri, with technical
specialist Hammam Amro.
• Yes Theatre, in cooperation with the World Peace Service, completed the first part of the training program “Yes
4 Youth”, aimed at professionals and new graduates interested in working directly with children, and which took
place from the start of March till the end of June 2010. 16 participants, male and female, completed the training and
will receive, at the end of the program, certificates from Yes Theatre and the WFD for about 190 training hours dur-
ing it, including exercises in theatre games, basics of theatre acting, storytelling, voice and breathing, body and
planning, in addition to two workshops in first aid and children’s rights. A number of participants complete practi-
cal workshops with children for two months, to enhance their practical abilities for training. The graduates are:
Bushra Al Atrash, Bushra Abu Saymeh, Manar Al Balasi, Hala Al Darabee’, Mo’az Mureb, Shawkat Al Tarda, Fikrat
Khallaf, Hekmat Al Qawasmi, Naseem Kashour, Arwa Eghbeirat, Diana Al Sweiti, Alaa’ Al Sweiti, Abeer Al Am-
mour, Doa’ Al Anati, Nour Esefan and Siddiqa Al Fatafta.
• These days, Yes Theatre started executing three programs of “Kids 4 kids” in which approximately 50 students
were chosen from several schools and institutions to participate. The program aims to enhance students’ personal
skills at all levels, and ends with three plays performed by the participants during tours to students from other
schools at the start of the new school year 2010 – 2011.
• Within the international exchange between Yes Theatre and European universities and institutions, the colleague
Raed Shyoukhi represented Yes Theatre in Sweden, where he visited, together with a large delegation of all Pal-
estinian theatres, the Drama Academy in Stockholm, the Ballet Institution, the Swedish Circus School, Gothenburg

6
 University and a number of Swedish theatres. The delegation exchanged skills with the officials there and engaged in numer-
ous discussions around the role of drama in social change, the methods of theatre work and their similarities and differences
in Sweden and Palestine. They also saw a number of different theatre performances.
Colleague Raed Shyoukhi also participated in the French “Odessa Martigue” Festival of storytelling in the Mediterranean coun-
tries, representing Palestine in the festival.
• Amongst the events of the Palestine Festival of Literature, Yes Theatre participated in a number of activities including theatri-
cal readings and others at the theatre’s premises in Hebron.
• Yes Theatre hosted the theatre performance: “From Jerusalem with Love... Naji” by the Hakawati/National Theatre.
• The theatre hosted, on the 16th and 17th May 2010, the activities of the School Festival of Drama organized by the Department
of Education, in which 11 theatre sketches where performed for children, with educational and social contents, by teachers
from 11 schools and seen by a large number of parents. Hiyam El Talbeeshi supervised the training, and Mr. Diab El Haymouni,
the Director of the Activities Section in the Department of Education, oversaw the execution.
• Colleagues Muhammad Titi and Ihab Zahda participated in performing the play “603” with Hayat Theatre in the United Arab
Emirates, where two performances were presented in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
• Yes Theatre is currently working on preparing the first and largest specialized drama library in the south region of the West
Bank. The library will contain more than 6000 books in the fields of theatre, drama, story and novel including studies, texts,
analysis and references from many Arab and foreign countries and in both languages.
• Members of the Board of Directors of the World Peace Service (WFD) visited Yes Theatre and watched a performance of the
play: “The Same Problem”, in addition to being introduced to the theatre’s activities and listening to a detailed presentation on
Yes Theatre’s various programs. The members expressed their interest in Yes Theatre’s work in an area such as Hebron due
to its uniqueness, and at the end of their visit, they toured the old city and visited Abraham’s Sanctuary.
• Within the international exchange and after the visit of colleague Raed Shyoukhi to a number of theatres and universities
interested in the field of drama in Sweden, a number of artists, trainers, directors and writers from these theatres visited Yes
Theatre several times over three months, during which they saw the activities and programs of the theatre and discussed,
with its management and artistic team, means of future cooperation between the two parties. An initial agreement was made
to bring several of them to train participants in the “Yes 4 Youth” program in a number of subjects that will benefit them and
increase their expertise in dealing with children and using drama in education.

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Character of the Day
In this issue, we hosted Mr. Diab Haymouni, Director of the Student Activities
Section in the Department of Education in Hebron, due to our knowledge of the extent of Mr.
Haymouni’s interest in extra-curricular activities in the Department of Education specifi-
cally and at the institutional level generally, and his belief in the role of theatre and drama
in opening the horizons of knowledge, broadening the awareness of our dear students and
changing their beliefs towards the better.

** Mr. Diab Haymouni, as you saw the beginnings of Yes Theatre and the path of its artistic team since the
theatre’s formation in 1997, what can you say about the rich path of this team and this new theatre: Yes Theatre?
-- Yes Theatre’s artistic team was able, since the early days after the theatre’s launch in 1997 with “Theatre Day Productions” and
until the end of 2007, to work using a clear, long-term plan to spread the culture of theatre, and Hebron was a thirsty ground for this
activity. Perhaps the absence of a theatre building had an effect, but the perseverance of the theatre’s team did not make the lack
of premises an obstacle.
When we speak of theatre, we clearly mean the artists Muhammad Titi, Ihab Zahda and Raed Shyoukhi, and when we speak of the-
atre organizations we mean Yes Theatre, which despite its short life has become the most unique organization in the south region
of the West Bank, and its name has become one of the landmarks of Hebron province.
** What are the student activities provided by the Department of Education in Hebron, and what is your opinion
on the programs and activities including theatre performances, drama workshops and others provided by Yes
Theatre with constant and complete cooperation with the Ministry and the Department of Education, and how
important are these activities to you?
-- Education, since the Palestinian Authority took over, changed from a desert to an oasis regarding activities. Before the Authority,
there was not what you could call student activities. On the other hand, student activities are everything that you can imagine the
student producing in various areas: artistic, cultural, sports, social, musical and so on.
For me personally, and due to my connection with the theatre since my school and university days, I used to give this activity prior-
ity since I first took over the responsibility of Director of the Activities Section. I was happy when the first theatre organization was
formed through “Theatre Day Productions” that worked in Hebron from the start of 1997 until 2007, during which time there was
coordination with the Ministry of Education to open the doors to all the organization’s activities, ranging from performances for
students (which are free of charge), drama workshops for school students, storytelling workshops for teachers, to animation and
others. Tens of thousands of students, teachers and audience members benefitted from the theatre team’s activities.
I would like to stress that the activities and programs of Yes Theatre are fundamental programs for student activities and for teach-
ers, since all studies have indicated the teachers’ need for drama in order to do their job as teachers. We in the Ministry of Educa-
tion are very happy for the existence of Yes Theatre, as other provinces do not have similar organizations.
Nothing is more indicative of the value of this organization than the Ministry of Education’s participation, with a student delegation
from Hebron, in the European student theatre in Greece last month, which points to the level of maturity and the scale of skills now
available in Hebron.
I can almost say that theatre in Hebron has become one of the accompanying features of culture, activity, creativity… All my regards
and appreciation go to my colleagues in Yes Theatre: technicians, artists and administrators.
** A word for Yes Theatre’s team on the one hand, and to teachers and students regarding Yes Theatre’s activi-
ties on the other?
-- There will never be a final word which we say to Yes Theatre; there will always be words that we continuously address to it. We
tell them that they have carved the rocks, and your oasis has grown. Continue, we want a lot from you, we want a theatre aimed
at the child, a theatre for the child… We want training for all teachers in the area of utilizing drama in educational work, we want
regular theatre performances, and we want to see the girl take her place in contributing to the organizational theatre performances.
I want to see a theatre in every school, and a teacher able in drama, I want to see theatres for children in every neighborhood,
because the theatre is the ideal means to dialogue, freedom and creativity.
** Mr. Diab Haymouni, thank you very much for offering us some of your precious time.
-- You are welcome, and God bless your wonderful efforts.

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Fifty Ideas to Plant Confidence in Your Child
Confidence is not something easy that comes overnight, and an insecure person needs a big effort for us to be able to return his
confidence to him. For this reason, parents must work on planting confidence in their children from their early youth, so that they
develop a strong, self-confident personality. Here are fifty easily applicable ideas to raise confidence in children:

1. Praise the child in front of others. 33. Teach him how to behave with pets.
2. Do not make your child self-criticize. 34. Apologize to him for any clear mistake that you make.
3. Say “Please” and “Thank you” to him. 35. Give him a day full of surprises.
4. Treat him as a child and let him live his childhood. 36. Get him used to reading the Quran daily.
5. Help him to make decisions by himself. 37. Tell him you love him, and hug him.
6. Teach him to swim. 38. Teach him the power of blessing and the importance of
7. Make him the guest of honor in an event. prayer.
8. Ask him for his opinion and take his advice on some things. 39. Make him play the role of teacher with you as the student.
9. Teach him how to read and follow directions. 40. Share his dreams and aspirations and encourage him to
10. Teach him first aid. wish.
11. Answer all his questions. 41. Make a corner in the house for his work and write his name
12. Keep your promises to him. on his achievements.
13. Teach him how to work in a team or group. 42. Help him to make friends; children these days do not know
14. Encourage him to ask questions. how to choose their friends.
15. Make him feel important among his friends. 43. Make him feel his importance and standing and that he has
16. Tell him the reasons for any decisions you make. God-given abilities.
17. Be with him on the first day of school. 44. Teach him to pray with you and plant in him the principles
18. Tell him stories from your childhood. of the belief in God.
19. Teach him how he can be found if lost. 45. Teach him the skills of giving an opinion, presenting and
20. Teach him to refuse and say “No” to wrongdoing. how to speak and present what he has to people.
21. Teach him to give. 46. Teach him how to set principles and duties for himself and
22. Give him enough money that he needs. how to follow them, execute them and behold them.
23. Encourage him to study and do not force him. 47. Teach him simple cooking skills like boiling eggs, frying
24. Teach him to protect himself and his body. potatoes, heating bread and so on.
25. Never threaten him. 48. Explain and clarify to him the suspicions and unclear is-
26. Give him advance warnings. sues that he asks about.
27. Teach him how to face failure. 49. Try something new for you and for him at the same time,
28. Teach him how to invest his money. while knowing results in advance.
29. Teach him how to fix and organize his things. 50. Teach him about gender differences between male and fe-
30. Teach him good values and principles. male, using inspiration from the Holy Quran.
31. Teach him how to take responsibility for his actions. Chosen by: Mohammad Issa
32. Praise his work and achievements and teach him to write Administrative Manager of Yes Theatre
them.

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Absurdity
Absurdity is an intellectual literary school claiming that mankind is lost, with no further meaning for his behavior in contemporary
life, and no further context for his thoughts. Rather, he regurgitates his thoughts because he has lost the ability to see things in their
normal dimension due to the desire for control of life by the machine, so it can serve the person, but this became twisted so that
the person serves the machine. People became cogs in this big social machine. The school of absurdity came as a mirror, through
theatre works and poetic novel, to reflect and enlarge what people suffer from in the second half of the twentieth century, such that
they may succeed in dispelling this disarray from their lives, thereby creating understanding and harmony for events.

Founding and most important players:

• The school of absurdity originated in European literature and moved to contemporary worldwide literature generally, and to
the countries that suffered from the First World War specifically. These countries had lost their trust in only the logical, mental
approach that could destroy all civilization built by humanity in an instance, when governed by the desire for control and de-
struction, as Hitler did in the Second World War.

Of the most important French players in the absurdity school:

• Samuel Beckett, born 1906, the pioneer of the absurdity school, and a writer in all literary genres, receiving a Nobel prize in
1969.
• Eugene Ionesco, born 1912, a French writer considered as one of the pillars of the theatre of the impossible.

Intellectual and ideological roots:

The French school of surrealism is considered to be the foundation of the absurdity principle, due to its content of subconscious
thought and hallucination of the world of dreams, filled with worries, pain and hopes. The school of symbolism is also considered
as one of the roots of the absurdity principle in what it contains of disturbed, unclear images combining beauty, ugliness, myth and
reality. In addition, Freud’s psychological opinions, with their suggestions and dreams due to his psychological analysis of mentally
ill patients, are also some of the intellectual roots of the absurdity principle.

• Geographical locations:
The absurdity principle began
in France then spread to Eu-
rope and the western world.
• It is clear from what has
been said: That absurdity is
an intellectual literary school
that does not tie itself to many
of humanity’s principles, and
does not see any real context
behind human behavior which
disintegrated in western soci-
eties. This school was affect-
ed by Freud’s opinions in ana-
lytical psychology and what it
contains in dreams, delusions
and imagination, and it sees
the necessity of following the
method of obscurity and rid-
dles in expression, so that critics do not understand the results of this school whose thought is based on the fear of the universe
and intimidation by it – a fear that eliminates any rational thought. With all that has been said, it attributes the loss of the person
in the West to soul emptiness, but it does not commit itself to any religious principles in advance, thus it is important to look at
its intellectual results with caution and interest.

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 For kids only

• Do you know?
1. That the speed of light is 300,000 kilometers per hour?
2. That the three primary colors are red, yellow and blue?
3. That the Arabic name for the state of Hungary is “Majar”?

• Jokes
• A guy was running behind a thief and he overtook him!
• A guy was tired of walking… so he started to run.
• A bald guy had a kid, so he named him: “Hairy.”

• Riddles
1. What does the farmer do after he puts his right foot in his ground?

2. What looks like half the moon?

3. Who wishes to be one-eyed?

(Answers are upside down at the bottom of the page)

1) Puts his left foot. 2) Its other half. 3) The blind person.

Abeer Karaki - 12 years old Doa’a Abu Malash - 20 years old - Ashjan Abu Hammad - 13 years old jehad Hantash - 4 years old - Alhuda
Yatta town school

Sereen Atawnah - 12 years old - Beit Kahel village Sajeda Abu Hammad - 12 years old

Ayat Abu Hawwash - 5 years old -

Alhuda school
11
 Words
I want to talk about the children who went through sadness and many moments… Moments of silence…
Moments of sadness… Moments of happiness… Moments of hope… Moments of pain… Moments of re-
gret… Moments of safety… Moments of fear… Moments of despair… Moments of tears… Moments of
quiet… Moments of anger… Children’s moments are mine, I am like all children, I am Sirine Mohammed
Salama Atawna… When children stray from their mothers they cry… When children are tired they cry…
When children sleep outside their houses they cry… When children are happy they also cry… When the
homeland is taken from them they cry… When children are sad they cry… When children stay alone Sirine Al Atawna, 11 years,
they cry… Only when children die, they don’t cry… So who will the children cry to?... The children are Nassar Al Asafra Second-
always crying, always shedding tears… The children of Palestine are sad like me. ary School – Beit Kahel

This competition will be a fixed feature of “Yalla Masrah”. In it, we pose a question to our dear read-
ers between 8 – 16 years old. Responses should be sent to Yes Theatre’s e-mail address: info@ This Issue’s
yestheatre.org. Three prizes, 100 shekels each, will be given to the winners. The winners and the Competition
correct answer will be announced in the next issue.
Solution for the riddle of the first issue: We will number the bags from one to ten. We take one ball from
the first bag, two balls from the second bag, three from the third, and so on until the tenth bag. We add
1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10 = 55 grams. We then put the balls on the scale, if they weigh 56 grams, then the bag with
the balls weighing 2 grams is the first bag. If they weigh 57 grams, it’s the second bag, and so on.
The winners of the first issue’s competition for three prizes, each 100 shekels, are:
• Yazan Zeiniddine Al Qasrawi 15 years (Imam Ali Basic School for Boys)
• Laith Munqeth Abu El Filat 15 years (Sheikh Mohammed Ali El Jaabari Basic School for Boys)
• Alaa Ahmad El Zgheir 15 years (Our Lady Sarah Basic School for Girls)
Our question for this issue is:
A man fell from the window of his house on the tenth floor and died. The investigators were unsure as
to whether he had committed suicide or someone had thrown him from the window, so they enlisted
the best investigator they had. He approached the window that the victim fell from, opened it, lit a
cigarette, threw the matchstick from the window and immediately said: “This man did not commit
suicide; someone threw him from the window.” How did he know this?

12
Yes Theatre and I • Many times, we had feelings of despair leading us to a closed road, in which it became clear to us that there
was no point in what we were doing. At other times, feelings of joy and hope came over us to the point where
we felt that we held the keys of happiness, the keys of changing the world. Between despair and frustration,
hope and optimism, the goal remained and remains clear in the eyes of those children. We may be planting
a seed of wheat in them that we don’t sow, but in whose fields the children will play in future. I did not see
my experience in Yes Theatre as merely a theatrical one; it was a new experience of life during certain
hours on a certain day in a certain place, which permitted us, through its formation in our minds, to bypass
it further than we imagined. Here I thank all who helped to teach me every letter, and I consider everyone in
Yes Theatre a complete whole, thus I will not partition it, but will thank them all in the spirit of the collective
that I saw from them, for this wonderful opportunity.
Manar Al Balasi
Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program

• Yes indeed… Yes to self-development… Yes to learning new things...

Yes to increasing our skills… Yes to raising our abilities… Yes to learning from others so we can teach oth-
ers… Yes to every person that tries to raise others’ abilities and give them new skills… Yes to Yes Theatre…
Yes…
Hekmat Al Qawasmi
Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program

• From school to university… At home and in the street… At work and with friends… At the time of smiles and that
of tears, the theatre was my rescuer the theatre was my friend, my guide, my counselor, for everything that is
theatre I accept without limitations or conditions... It was a long time yes before I received something scien-
tific that does not depend only on talent in the theatre. I met Yes Theatre, and for me it was the opportunity
that comes only once in a lifetime, yes it was a chance “like no other,” Yes Theatre occupied a large part of
my life… For during my stay in it I took on the principle: “Always say Yes no matter how hard circumstances
are…” When I lived under the pressure of my university exams “that did not end,” one thing made it easier

for me: “Tomorrow you have a course at Yes Theatre.” And so it was in the problems of my everyday life… I
would be patient and say: “There’s Yes Theatre.” My problem was in my huge waiting for the day that I would
go to Yes Theatre to run away from life’s “mess” and its problems… Thank you Yes Theatre.
Mo’az Mer’eb
Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program

• In the beginning I did not feel very excited to join the program organized by Yes Theatre, but I slowly found
that it is not just a training program… It was a lot more than that… It was a place where I found people to
advise and help me… Between games and laughter, sadness and pressure, fatigue and rest, anticipation

13
 Yes Theatre and I
and creativity… All of it became clear for me to find out later that I had not joined a traditional program, but a
place that started teaching me a lot, such as the love of responsibility and humility… and the brotherly rela-
tion with the other participants without exception… Thank you Yes Theatre...
Shawkat Al Tardeh
Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program

• It was an intimate meeting even though they didn’t know each other. Yet they met each other and formed a
strong, united family. They feared for each other and loved each other, treated each other with all respect
and appreciation. They laughed played worked partied created had fun were scared were empty, yet their
unity, strength and brotherhood refused not to erase the parting. They decided to meet so all the family
gathered in one house… The house of Yes Theatre… It is them… The group of “Yes 4 Youth,” pioneers despite
all obstacles, they are the family, the strong, the volunteers. My brothers and sisters, children of the “Yes 4
Youth” program, the parting is hard and the expression harder, it is you who determine the time to meet, for
the meeting and communication is in your hands… I will not forget you…
Seddeqa Al Fataftah
Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program
• The story began about three months ago. Its heroes are wonderful people and I am one of the heroes of this
story. The beginning was in an advertisement I read about a training program in Yes Theatre... I’ll be honest
with you – I thought at the beginning that it’s just a normal course, but when I found out that it is for teach-
ers, workers and fresh graduates working with children, I decided to join it because I believe that the idea or
information which is taught to children using drama, remains in their memory and gets used in their scientific
and professional life. Giving a lesson in Arabic grammar using the means of drama will make it stick in the
students’ memory forever.
Bushra Al Atrash
Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program
• When I saw them in the place and lived the state of waiting with them… I collected all what I imagined and all
my impressions and wrapped them in words to share with them and tell them: “You have creativity. Sponta-

neous, studied creativity.” That’s why I did not hesitate in trying to find something new and different through
a training program focused on the child and titled: “Yes 4 Youth”… And how the stage has a role in sculpting
our thoughts which will reflect our behavior with people in their different ages, especially the child… There is
movement, sound, drama and speech through three people that are writing a letter in their own way, they are
Ihab, Muhammad and Raed from a place called Yes Theatre, from the stage of love and hope… Thank you for
every moment in which you have taught me what I love.
Doa’ Anati
Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program

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• It’s the place that holds our thoughts and feelings when we get to it. We mold together in body and spirit, we become differ-
ent people, and we live times in which we learn the methods and art of dealing with children through study. We elevate our
thoughts, feelings and ways of our dealing...
Nour Es’efan
Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program

• I came to Yes Theatre to change the routine of my life, but never imagined that there would be any real change in my personal-
ity… From the first day I entered Yes Theatre and joined the training program: “Yes 4 Youth,” the change began in my life and
personality, a real change. I started waiting for the days of the workshop impatiently, not because I have nothing to do – on the
contrary, my time is full because I study and work at the same time. But in Yes Theatre I found myself and I found what I am
looking for, far from my job and my studies… A place in which I psychologically rest, express what goes through my mind and
do what I like doing with the help of an exceptional group of trainers.
Diana Al Sweiti
Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program

• A place in which I was surprised to find myself during the first moments, but I adapted to it, integrated in it, liked my presence
between its leaders and pioneers… I respect it and I respect myself because I am there. It is not a new experience for me, but
it is a wonderful experience that pushes me to finish what I started… I like my work with children and I need experience and
better methods to deal with them in an ideal way. Drama, educational games, storytelling and acting have all added a lot to me
in this field… New tools, beautiful methods that I have gained from the implementers of the program, the team of Yes Theatre.
Many thanks to them and to all who help in raising the level of this theatre, developing it and growing it…
Bushra Abu Saymeh
Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program

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O, Black One
Thought by Muhammad Titi, Artistic Team Member,
Yes Theatre
I never imagined that there would be a fate to take me out of
my worry, my silence, my isolation and deprivation… My child-
hood of despair… My dreams that were not… My loss of my
mother and myself… except you, O Black One.
I did not imagine that I would be provoked by you, because I
thought that what is inside me is stronger than anyone provok-
ing it. How did you do it? Your madness pulled me to you, the
black of your timeless night, the night you have worn since
your birth… That black did not leave me; it stayed with me for
long years… I wore it like you… It surrounded me like it sur-
rounded you… It stayed with me like it stayed with you… It’s
strange, I am in love with that black… its colour… its silence…
its timelessness. I though, had what I had, I had something
else that was different because you taught me how to love my
black, I loved it because you love it… Not because I am being
nice to you, O beautiful one, but because it befits you, but I
was pulled to you through my soul… This is how you were and
you will remain…
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Life…
Thought by Noura Salah, Participant in School Theatre Festival 2008
I received life with the hand of a small child, I covered myself in its sky
and lay on its ground. I lit my night with the stars and walked in its day
that alternates between cold and heat. I drank water, tears and sweat, till
I was satisfied, but I grew in thirst for rest and safety. I walk in search of
warmth hidden between the rocks, or carved into a tree trunk forgotten for
years, growing in fertile land watered by streams and springs flowing of
pure, sweet water like the virginal kisses of lovers.
I try to search for a hand to touch mine, to understand its needs from time
to time, because from my first steps I did not find what could renew life for
me. Its day and night, summer and autumn all walk in the same rhythm,
nothing stops their usual routine or changes their known path. Life for me
became a forgotten song that generations were bored of repeating. On
the fringe of its path are remains of memories, pain and scattered sand,
carried by wind from distant shores. Its fertile ground became a dry des-
ert, on whose grounds grew thorns of betrayal, and snakes of poison and
envy crawled between its colored stones. The thorns grew and flourished
under despair and deprivation. I turn my face left and right, I search for it
in the mirrors, after it became tainted and formed by the changes of time,
for life has taken for me a decision to leave innocence, so it made me into
a young woman, erased the childlike features of my body, and changed
me into a woman. When was I a child? And why did I become a woman?
Two lines that mix in my skull; I try to separate my memory to search for
myself, which of them was I, the child or the woman?
I did not choose my name? Or my shape or my gender? Or how I was
supposed to sit in my mother’s womb? I was programmed since I was
in it – female!! I know, nature does not change its skin, and we have no
hand in the course of life, it is determined by a godly design that does not
change and does not end by expiration. I have not reached madness or
atheism, but I am a human who gets fed up, hurt, who complains; so that
he feels change or he hears his voice in the noise of those leaving and
living this life.
He said: “On this land is what is worth living for…” Plants and green grass,
blue sky, a wide “universe”, lying, rolling in front of my eyes, flirting with
the water, air, sun and moon, and with a lover every night that he con-
verses with, swims with in seas of snow, water and fire, and listens to the
song of the free, smells the breeze of the past and travels to the future,
leaving behind catastrophes and memories that consume their owner with
regret and insomnia.
He said: “On this land is what is worth living for…” Springs of water, flow-
ers, roses, basil and amber, a winter that brings loved ones closer, a
spring that blooms the seeds of love inside them, a summer that kindles
the love of meeting and its renewal in them, and the autumn of life re-
mains, in which all that they have carried of hopes and feelings fall into, so
that they remember a life that passed without them keeping a fresh flower
for its end, or a dream not tainted by the problems and worries of life. They
meet like strangers under the umbrella of paleness and pain.
He said: “On this land is what is worth living for…” On this land is peace, it
has all kinds of faiths, and feelings that cannot be described by an artist,
mixing and merging in a strange way inside an entity called the human,
who in turn climbs the ladder of glory, the world opens the doors of suc-
cess and development to him, allows him to drink whatever he likes of
its good and beauty, and become versed in love and desire, analyze the
secrets of the body, explain its symbols and hear its call. Life attracts him
and he becomes gorged full, then it kisses him into a grave and leaves.
On this earth is… I said: Enough hallucination.
 The Obedient Daughter
Thought by Manar Al Balasi, Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program/Edited

She crept to her room, crying, red in the face and with tears
in her eyes. She started crying and shaking violently, crying to
an extent unknown, and repeatedly saying things in the midst
of her hysteria: “Why me, dear God? Why me?” Raneen is a
girl who was blessed by God with a remarkable beauty, blue
eyes, beautiful body, hair like silk, a girl with an abundance of
femininity that made her the focus of attention of her friends of
the same age, in addition to her sharp intelligence… Raneen,
eighteen years old, was a student in the final year, serious and
hardworking, approaching study with great vigor and desire, for
she always received many words of encouragement from her
teachers due to her intelligence… Four months into the school
year, her teachers noticed a strange, unprecedented slippage in
her grades, and noticed her crying constantly in class, and her
immense hatred for going home. Her teachers tried to find the
reason for the sharp change in her but failed. One day Raneen
came to school with a yellow face and a fear like no other. The
school counselor tried to calm her and ask what led her to this
condition… But Raneen’s crying intensified and she remained
silent, biting her fingers in pain and inability to open up to her
teacher about the source of her grief… Her condition worsened
as did her health and she suffered an immense nervous break-
down that made her live in constant isolation, huddled in a
corner of her room in darkness, covered in her blanket, seek-
ing safety and security in it… Raneen started remembering the
events of that horrible night, for her uncle, every time he visited
her on the pretext of checking in on her, would try to molest her,
fondle her, try to kiss her in a disgusting manner, and feel parts
of her body, which would make her break down after he left.
Raneen tried to tell her mother about what her uncle did, for she
said to herself: “Who will rescue me from him except my mother!”
She thought she would find a safe haven with her mother, but she
was stunned at her mother’s reaction, who hit her and started
cursing and swearing at her, thinking that Raneen was making
these things up about her uncle. She warned her not to say any-
thing to anyone about this… Raneen kept suffering from her uncle
greatly till the hour came, for the uncle was no longer satisfied
with just stolen kisses from that attractive body. He took the
chance of her mother going to the market and waited for Raneen
to come home. Before she could close the door, he surprised her,
opened it and came in… jumped on her like an animal, hit her,
wounded her head and threw her on the floor, tore her school
dress and raped her… stole her childhood and her innocence, left
her swimming in a sea of blood and ran away…
In this state, Raneen kept suffering from her uncle without ut-
tering a word… preferring to be an obedient daughter to a kind
mother.

Letter for She Who Will Leave

Thought by Bushra Abu Saymah, Participant in “Yes 4 Youth” program
I write the final page to you, my friend, because I hope that I will be the last creature you forget in this existence… You may leave to
the place from which they never return, turn into an angel in the sky, and your soul will always accompany me… Know, my friend,
that I love you and always will, but it was written for us to live as strangers in this life, to be destroyed by problems and worries.
I have carved you into my heart, like on stone, you and all whom I love, so that time is unable to remove you with its hatred and
pain.
Leave, for my heart is with you in every step, in every place, in every path, I will miss you but… Then I will only look for you in my
heart, in which you live… you occupy… I see you bright, radiant, beautiful… God is with you, my friend, go for there is no place there
for sickness and no place there for pain…

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You Dream of School…
Thought by Jihan Yahya, Gaza, one of Yes Theatre Supporters
She shrugged off the remnants of her dream… rubbed the last scene in her eyes and got up to dress quickly for school… The bell
will ring in a few minutes… That’s what the sunshine whispered to her… Moments less than you need for all you must do before
you arrive at school… She left running, after wearing her school dress, and ran in the street… All she could think about was Mr.
Sobhi with his big belly and his pants that never fit his flowered shirt – he will tell her off badly for being late… When her little feet
approached school, she didn’t see any students, but heard a voice calling her from behind… She turned in surprise and froze when
she found Mr. Sobhi with his big belly, wearing a tracksuit, carrying a plate of foul (beans) and asking as he smiled: “What’s wrong,
my daughter?”

She stuttered greatly… started trying to remember the list of reasons she had prepared to justify her being late, but all the reasons
ran away… She remained frozen in her place in front of Mr. Sobhi who looked at her with pity, before approaching her, patting her
shoulder and saying: “My dear child, why did you come today… Were you dreaming of school… Go home, today is Friday.”

Yes Theatre, A spirit of life

In the midst of a world full of unjustified “No’s” and in the bustle of the theatre of reality that is so drained of any reality, a breath
of life and love comes and a lot of hope in the minds of young men who never knew the culture of “No” but insisted on replacing it
with “Yes” to make it the name of their organization and the title of their guiding behavior in life. The light of Yes Theatre shone in
2008 to communicate between youth in Hebron city, taking the society of the city towards another dimension of art and beauty, and
taking those who love art to the last moment between creativity and madness, bringing down the curtain of reality on the theatre of
life with unprecedented lightness and professionalism. Despite all obstacles and difficulties, these young men were able to build
a base for themselves from which they launch out into the world, so you see them today performing their art and inner abilities in
European and Arab countries too, to prove to the world that Palestinian theatre remains and keeps advancing its cause through
words and personalities of varying natures. Between high symbolism and reality mixed with some imagination, the actors of the
theatre please its audience with the highest art in existence, the art of the word followed by lighthearted movements, to capture the
audience of viewers, stay with them and live in them through words and gestures for a long time. How could they not do this when
they were able to overcome a society and a reality that rejects all that is new and hastens to all that is routine, when they were the
ones who were able to merge the arts of management and will?

Thought by Ayah Abu Mayyaleh – one of «yes Theatre» supporters

Will You Dance With Me?

It is now midnight. And you are in a military stance… Even so, I will extend my hand to you to dance for you this time… A Palestinian
dance, on the stage of wounds from the era of the first Nakba till the last one that has not yet been printed in the newspapers, and
which that chic broadcaster has not yet talked about!

You will not be angry if I tell you that this dance of mine will not be in the traditional dress or on that Palestinian “beat” but will be
a dance to some tune… for someone who decided to sing and compose music on the shelf of a person that we don’t yet know and
maybe we have difficulty pronouncing his name, maybe this will be another voice that you are not used to hearing… But when I
begin to dance… don’t forget to scatter the papers of some story by Ghassan Kanafani over my head in honor of this dance of mine…
and I will put the handcuffs of your hands as a bracelet in my feet… You will clap for me with the last surprise that remains in you,
and we will drink forgetfulness till intoxication… till we reach a level of no return… the return of yearning and looking back, we will
dance together on the stage of wounds since the era of the first Nakba… We will exchange laughter, quick looks and there will be
no remainder for the day… and no end anyway.

Note: This is the voice of a female who does not age, sitting, since 1948, on a wooden chair, tied to an electric wire, drinking her
yearning for the details she lived in some history.
Thought by Doa’ Al Anati, Participant in the “Yes 4 Youth” program

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Where Are We From Our Culture?
Culture is an unbreakable part of our identity, with it we are strengthened and our belonging to this land grows. It is the sustenance
in our long travel to finish the journey, and is the weapon we use to prove that this land is ours, so what is our duty toward our
culture? Where are our popular tales in which we see the Palestinian person in his simplicity and firmness in his land? Where are
our songs that scream in their loudest voice: “I am from you, so where are you from me today?” Where are these songs that painted
for us the most beautiful pictures of social cooperation and the love of ground and olives? The song: “Ala dalona w ala dalona, the
olives of my country are the most beautiful” will not forgive our children if they let her down, and our poets, connected to our culture,
will not forgive them… For here is the late poet, remaining in our memory, Mahmoud Darwich, using in his poem: “A Canaanite stone
in the Dead Sea” the myth of Anan, and Anan is a mythical woman, the “mother of the Canaanites”. This myth is connected to the
Palestinian depth, for Anan in the myth bleeds the water of the sky in order to water the earth, and is there anything more beautiful
than this connection to culture? Mahmoud Darwich here gives us the most beautiful picture for the sacrificing, patient Palestinian
woman who gives life through her standing by the Palestinian resistor.

In the poetry of Izzedine Manasra, “Jafra’s” standing was elevated till she became a myth much respected and appreciated by
Palestinians, for her symbolism was numerous in his poetry. At times she is the beloved girl, and at others she is the homeland
and the revolution for he says: “Jafra… They ran away when you stood like a defeated star… Bring the handkerchief and cover me
to sleep…”

Thus we should stand for a moment and ask ourselves about our duty toward our culture, where we are from it, and where our
children are from our popular stories that embody it, to know where to start from, to know where to return to.

Bushra Al Atrash
Participant in the “Yes 4 Youth” program

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 Picks from the Garden of My Life

Diana Al Sweiti, participant in the “Yes 4 Youth” program

• Every tear has an end, and the end of each tear is a smile… And each smile has an end, and the end of each smile is a tear…
• A single flower for a living person is better than a whole bunch for him at his grave…
• Do not try to make your clothes more expensive because they will make your present hell and your future a ruin… It is enough
to have a stance from them and get a new push on the path of truth and right…
• Let the days do as they shall
And be accepting if fate decides
Do not be afraid from an incident of the night
For the incidents of the world do not remain
• Do not imagine all people to be angels, therefore collapsing your dreams… And don’t let your trust in them be blind, because
you will cry one day for your naivety. Be like the water that breaks rocks while coursing drop by drop…
• The world is like the water of the sea… The more you drink of it, the more thirsty you become…
• He who lives with two faces dies with no face…
• Do not argue with the stupid one, for people might be wrong in making the distinction between you…
• He who is unfair to his youth, has his old age be unfair to him…
• Money is a good servant, but a bad master.
• Talk is like medicine, if you lessen it, it is beneficial, and if you use it too much, it can kill.

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